1 week ago
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When it comes to Hyderabad’s road accidents, the numbers don’t quite add up. What the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report suggests and what the city’s own police commissionerates record tell two very different stories.
As per NCRB’s 2023 data, Hyderabad logged 2,943 accidents and 335 deaths. But the combined figures from the city’s tri-commissionerate paint a far more alarming picture — 9,101 accidents and 1,779 deaths in the same year.
The anomaly becomes more evident while considering the spread of the three commissionerates. Hyderabad covers about 650 sq. km, Cyberabad stretches across 3,679.7 sq. km and Rachakonda is the largest at around 5,121 sq. km. Within these areas, Rachakonda registered the most accidents in 2023 at 3,321, followed closely by Cyberabad (3,143) while Hyderabad accounted for 2,637 cases.
As the urban area of Hyderabad has increased over the years, it has led to under-reporting in national statistics where the old geographical jurisdiction is considered. In 2022, the city police collectively recorded 8,599 accidents across the three commissionerates, more than 241% higher than the NCRB’s figure of 2,516.
In 2021, while NCRB put the tally of ‘Hyderabad’ at 2,273 cases, the local figure was 8,816. Even in 2019 and 2020, when accident cases stood at 7,072 and 8,799, respectively, according to police data, the NCRB numbers were much lower at 2,064 and 2,900.
Nationally, Hyderabad still figures among the worst-hit cities. With 2,516 cases in the NCRB’s 2023 list, it ranked fifth among 53 mega cities, behind Delhi (5,715), Bengaluru (4,980), Chennai (3,653) and Indore (3,566). Hyderabad accounted for 4.21% of the 69,910 road accidents reported in these urban centres.
The human cost of these crashes is steep. In 2023, as many as 2,596 people were injured and 335 killed. November topped the list of accident months with 309 cases, followed by December with 298. The leanest months were March (190) and February (208).
As per NCRB, evening hours proved the most dangerous, with 474 accidents reported between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., followed by 435 cases in the afternoon (12 noon to 3 p.m.) and 427 between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Most accidents took place on city roads, where 2,418 crashes left 2,139 injured and 254 dead. The national highways recorded 405 cases (344 injured, 59 dead), and state highways 120 cases (113 injured, 22 dead).
Two-wheelers dominated the accident charts, featuring in 2,247 cases that caused 260 deaths. SUVs, cars and three-wheelers followed, each logging 109 accidents with 11 and 10 deaths, respectively.
On a larger scale, road accidents made up 97.3% of total traffic accidents in India’s 53 mega cities, which as per NCRB, includes road accidents, railway accidents and railway crossing accidents. Delhi alone contributed 8.2% of the cases, Bengaluru 7.1%, and Chennai 5.2%. Delhi also recorded the highest number of road accident deaths at 1,457, followed by Bengaluru with 915.
The causes, too, are telling. Across the 53 cities, over-speeding accounted for more than half the fatalities in 2023, claiming 8,635 lives or 53.4% of the total 16,180 deaths. Dangerous or careless driving, including overtaking, made up another 27.6% (4,471 deaths). Alcohol or drug-impaired driving caused 436 deaths, 2.7% of the total, with Kanpur leading in such cases.
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